The Effects of Household’s Income and Parental Educational on Children’s School Enrollment in Easter Region of Afghanistan

Abstract

This study examines that how household income and parents' education effects the children's school enrolment in the Eastern Region of Afghanistan. A quantitative research approach was employed with the use of primary data that were gathered from 265 school-age children's households using a structured questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis was used to explore the association between the socioeconomic factors of the household and child's school enrolment. The descriptive statistics showed that the school enrolment rate, household income, and parental education standard were relatively high among the sampled households. Children's school enrolment showed strong and statistically significant positive relationship with household income (r = 0.785, p<0.01) while parents education showed strong and statistically significant positive relationship with school enrolment (r = 0.752, p<0.01) and household income (r = 0.741, p<0.01). The regression model had a high explanatory power (R = 0.825 and R² = 0.680), meaning that the model is able to explain 68.0% of the variation in children's school enrolment based on household income and parents' education. The overall model was significant as indicated by the ANOVA results (F = 278.994, p < 0.001). Moreover, the regression coefficients showed that household income and parents' education have positive and significant impact on school enrolment. Household income emerged as the strongest predictor (β = 0.505, p < 0.001), followed by parents’ education (β = 0.378, p < 0.05). These results indicate that the economic capacity and education of the parents are important factors in explaining children's access to education. The study ends with the conclusion that policies regarding poverty reduction, educational support and adult education programs are crucial to enhance school enrolment and educational opportunities in Afghanistan in an equitable manner.